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Old 01-18-2016, 01:31 PM   #1
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THOR #3512
Thor Vegas Engine Battery removal

Good morning, I just purchased a Thor Vegas 2014, and drove it home from Kansas City, 550 miles to get it home, A very nice driving unit. I did see some treads on the under hood battery removal/replacement, very bad location. One Rv'er said he had to remove the pass side tray slide and cut through some Mfgr. plywood and plastic inside the cab to access battery. I'm going to leave the battery in place, ( disconnect)have two battery cables made and route the cables to the storage compartment behind the r/s front wheel and mount the battery there..It'll sure make life easer down the road..

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Old 01-18-2016, 02:37 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by gunner03 View Post
Good morning, I just purchased a Thor Vegas 2014, and drove it home from Kansas City, 550 miles to get it home, A very nice driving unit. I did see some treads on the under hood battery removal/replacement, very bad location. One Rv'er said he had to remove the pass side tray slide and cut through some Mfgr. plywood and plastic inside the cab to access battery. I'm going to leave the battery in place, ( disconnect)have two battery cables made and route the cables to the storage compartment behind the r/s front wheel and mount the battery there..It'll sure make life easer down the road..
If treated well, starting batteries can last over 3 years. In 8 years of owning RVs, I have never replaced one (I turned them over every 3 years). Not a bad idea to move the battery, but, depending how long you keep your RV, it may be a lot of work for little gain.
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Old 01-18-2016, 03:00 PM   #3
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Thor Vegas Engine Battery removal

I just replaced this battery on our Vegas 24.1 The factory recommended method of going in from the passenger side dash works well. The plywood was pre-cut by Thor to be easily removed and battery access is good. Lifting the old battery out is a little awkward, but it can be done. The only down side is you have to create a way to put the plywood "hatch" back in place and secure it. Once that's done future access will be easy, but you really don't have to go in this way often.

BTW I got a battery watering system and put it on this battery, so topping off the water is easily done from the front.
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Old 01-18-2016, 04:16 PM   #4
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Is it possible to jump start the battery from the front of an axis 24.1 in case of a dead battery?
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Old 01-18-2016, 05:06 PM   #5
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Is it possible to jump start the battery from the front of an axis 24.1 in case of a dead battery?
Yes, you could do that. Probably would need to remove the vent hoses in the front to allow easier access to the battery though. I've installed the battery watering system on mine and it's not too difficult to get in there.
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Old 01-18-2016, 05:33 PM   #6
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Is it possible to jump start the battery from the front of an axis 24.1 in case of a dead battery?
Yes. I've had it done by AAA.
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Old 01-18-2016, 05:37 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by mck67 View Post
I just replaced this battery on our Vegas 24.1 The factory recommended method of going in from the passenger side dash works well. The plywood was pre-cut by Thor to be easily removed and battery access is good. Lifting the old battery out is a little awkward, but it can be done. The only down side is you have to create a way to put the plywood "hatch" back in place and secure it. Once that's done future access will be easy, but you really don't have to go in this way often.

BTW I got a battery watering system and put it on this battery, so topping off the water is easily done from the front.
That is good to know. What year is your Vegas? I have one of the earliest coaches and from previous posts I understood that you had to cut the plywood yourself. The watering system is a good idea. I would have liked to do that but could not see how it would be possible without removing the dash. Has anyone put in a battery watering system without moving the dash or had one installed?
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Old 01-18-2016, 07:04 PM   #8
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You can get to the battery and put the water refill in from the front of the coach. No need to go through the dash.
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Old 01-18-2016, 07:48 PM   #9
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You can get to the battery and put the water refill in from the front of the coach. No need to go through the dash.
Do you think that there is enough room to put in a battery watering system? Has anyone ever done it? I watched my local mechanic fill the battery from the front and it is a tight fit. Not as tight as adding a quart of oil, but almost?
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Old 01-18-2016, 08:11 PM   #10
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Do you think that there is enough room to put in a battery watering system? Has anyone ever done it? I watched my local mechanic fill the battery from the front and it is a tight fit. Not as tight as adding a quart of oil, but almost?
I put one of these on my chassis battery without much trouble:

Amazon.com: Flow-Rite MP2010 Qwik-Fill 1 Battery Kit: Automotive

You just have to remove the clamps holding the air hose vents in place and move them out of the way.

Will need this also to pump the water in unless you have one already:

Amazon.com: Flow-Rite RV2020 Pro-Fill/Qwik Fill Hand Pump: Automotive

I also have the dual battery refill kit for the coach batteries. Makes it real simple to add water to the batteries.
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Old 01-18-2016, 09:13 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Larry View Post
I put one of these on my chassis battery without much trouble:

Amazon.com: Flow-Rite MP2010 Qwik-Fill 1 Battery Kit: Automotive

You just have to remove the clamps holding the air hose vents in place and move them out of the way.

Will need this also to pump the water in unless you have one already:

Amazon.com: Flow-Rite RV2020 Pro-Fill/Qwik Fill Hand Pump: Automotive

I also have the dual battery refill kit for the coach batteries. Makes it real simple to add water to the batteries.
Thanks. I'll buy one of those for my new Axis.
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Old 01-30-2016, 03:30 AM   #12
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Yes it is possible but a real pain, not much room.
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Old 01-30-2016, 01:23 PM   #13
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Yes it is possible but a real pain, not much room.
In the 2016's there is more room, so it looks like it will be easier.
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Old 01-30-2016, 02:38 PM   #14
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Instead of jumping, my 2015 24.1 has a switch allowing the coach batteries to help start. You shouldn't have to access the starter battery from under the hood.

Phil
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Old 01-30-2016, 04:12 PM   #15
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Instead of jumping, my 2015 24.1 has a switch allowing the coach batteries to help start. You shouldn't have to access the starter battery from under the hood.

Phil
The batteries are not sealed. You need access to check the water levels in all of them (including the engine start battery) as well as access to the start battery to change it out when it dies. In the initial Vegas/Axis models, you had to cut the dashboard under the dashboard table to change out the battery and it was extremely difficult to check the water levels.
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Old 01-30-2016, 04:43 PM   #16
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When I first got my Axis I checked the water levels and all batteries had at couple cells that were quite low. I've used the filler kits in previous RVs and promptly put them on the Axis too. Thankfully the batteries have required very little water after their first fill.
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Old 03-11-2016, 11:38 PM   #17
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Ok. I think I had a couple low cells in chassis battery (couldnt see but it seemed to take more water). What a pain. I ordered the quik-fill for the chassis as well as the dual for the house. and the $20 something bulb and tube to fill. One of my house batteries was also low in a couple of cells. Has anyone tried changing out the chassis Bat from below?
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Old 03-12-2016, 01:12 AM   #18
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Having a few cells low isn't necessarily bad. All my Axis batteries had some cells near exposure level when I first got the RV home (that's NOT good). I used a mirror to check the chassis battery cell levels and put easy filler caps on to fill it. I just checked batteries a couple weeks ago and none took on much water or gave that squirt sound. So my take after a year now is that the conditions were corrected before the dominos started to fall The charging systems can also cause boil-off (I've had this on 2 RVs) but boil off in just a couple cells doesn't point me to blaming the charger.

Most of my battery issues over the years have had an exposed cell condition. Keeping cells topped off at proper levels helps batteries last a long time. I'm all for prolonging the engine battery extraction!!!
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Old 05-06-2016, 08:31 PM   #19
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THOR #3510
Chassis Battery..water refill unit

Quote:
Originally Posted by TyCreek View Post
Having a few cells low isn't necessarily bad. All my Axis batteries had some cells near exposure level when I first got the RV home (that's NOT good). I used a mirror to check the chassis battery cell levels and put easy filler caps on to fill it. I just checked batteries a couple weeks ago and none took on much water or gave that squirt sound. So my take after a year now is that the conditions were corrected before the dominos started to fall The charging systems can also cause boil-off (I've had this on 2 RVs) but boil off in just a couple cells doesn't point me to blaming the charger.

Most of my battery issues over the years have had an exposed cell condition. Keeping cells topped off at proper levels helps batteries last a long time. I'm all for prolonging the engine battery extraction!!!
TyCreek...Ron is considering the water filling unit for the Chassis battery.
I read your opinion and that of others...you feel this is the way to go?
Did you order from Amazon ?

Thanks
Kay
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Old 05-06-2016, 08:53 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by vkb View Post
TyCreek...Ron is considering the water filling unit for the Chassis battery.
I read your opinion and that of others...you feel this is the way to go?
Did you order from Amazon ?

Thanks
Kay
It sure makes it easy. I did get mine from Amazon.
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